Diary of an Avatar
by somecallmetim27
Summary: A young fire bender discovers who she is


This journal really is beautiful. I mean, it ought to be, our village has the finest paper mill in the Fire Nation. It turns out that the particular bamboo that grows like great forests of weeds near the river we live next to makes incredibly good paper. We supply paper and related products to everyone from wealthy business owners, artists & authors, all the way up to the Firelord herself. Not that anyone actually knows that. We're so small we don't even show up on most maps. But you know what, I like it that way. Our village is beautiful and I think that the fact that it's a bit obscure from the rest of the world only serves to keep it that way. It's like we have our own little secret pocket of heaven here. Safe from the rest of the world and it's conflicts.

As a result of living next to a paper factory, everyone in our village grows up not only knowing how to read, but to write as well. All of our parents have always assured us from a very young age that this is an incredible privilege, though many of us remain unconvinced. In their defense, several of the older kids went on to study at the university and a few have even become government officials. There has definitely been speculation around the town at the lavish and wonderful lives they must lead.

For me, I never had any interest in that. Our home may be remote and obscure, but it is beautiful. We live at the base of a series of foothills that lead to some tremendous mountains that are tall enough to be snowcapped year-round. It gets cold enough to give us some beautiful snow in winter, but not so cold as to make us miserable. I don't understand how people in the water tribes survive in their frozen tundra. Though I suppose, whether I like it or not, I'll get to learn firsthand eventually. The river and bamboo forests yield a plethora of different wild animals that are fascinating to watch and the cherry blossoms in spring are beautiful in ways no words could ever describe. People talk about what life must be like in Capital City, or how amazing it must be to work in a palace with a governor, or maybe even with the royal family themselves, but how could anything could compare to here? I don't care how much gold the Firelord has, nothing beats watching the panda otters play with their young in their secluded lagoons in spring.

I'd never imagined leaving home. A lot of my friends, all they seemed to ever want was to get away, to travel to some far and distant land. But I like it here. My family is here. My father runs a small leather shop. He makes saddles, harnesses, bags, belts, and all sorts of things for whoever needs leather goods. He has quite the artistic flair and wealthy people come from all over the area whenever they want something special. I like helping him in the shop when I can, though I'd always imagined I'd give that sort of thing up to raise kids like my mother once I settled down after marriage.

The first clue I should have got was after some funny people visited our village a few years ago. I never did find out exactly what they were here for, but they dressed strange and seemed to be interested in finding out when me and my friends were born. They were also giving fire bending tests. Just a simple thing to determine strength. There were lots of whispers and rumors about who they were, but none of kids seemed to be allowed to know. I'd always assumed they were recruiters for the army, or maybe they were looking for people to be members of the royal guard. Of course it's been known since I was born that I was a fire bender, and I've always been naturally quite strong in that area. But it's another one of those things that I never really cared about. Sure, fire bending has it's uses. I never have to find tinder and flint when I want to start a fire, I can always find my way in the dark, you can even do some really neat artistic stuff in leather working using fire bending. But I had no interest in joining the military, I was never really big into martial arts or careers involving them, and I'd always figured someday I'd just be another village stay at home mom. But right after those bozos came and went, my parents began making me practice my fire bending like crazy. Suddenly, I was being sent to all the local fire bending teachers and time I used to get wandering the countryside was suddenly spent doing practice drills. I got to the point where I could easily outduel any kid my own age and even most of the masters, but it was never enough!

And that wasn't all, not by a long shot. Education has always been important in our village, but my parents suddenly took it to a whole other level. When I wasn't being forced to practice fire bending, I was being quizzed on history. And not just fire nation history, but the history of all the four nations. I was given extra assignments, I was made to practice my penmanship. Oh spirits the penmanship drills! I can't think of anything worse than being stuck inside on a spring day writing nonsensical sentences for the mere purpose of practicing making your characters look prettier. Never in my life have I been more disgusted by the existence of paper.

But today, things were supposed to change. Today was my 16th birthday. Today, I was finally old enough to marry. I had this big plan. I was going to sit my parents down and tell them enough is enough! All this extra hard work had to stop. It was nonsense. I was spending all this time and energy in things that weren't going to matter at all to me in the long run. I was sick of it and I was beyond done. But the joke was on me. Those people in the funny clothes came back. Why did they come back? No one knew. Well, no one my age knew. The adults were apparently all playing their own stupid game.

There was a big meeting in the town square today at noon. Everyone had to attend. Everyone was in their best clothes. And then the lead man in the funny clothes got up in front of everyone and said, "We're here to announce the identity of the next Avatar." The minute they told us why they were here I was overcome with an intense feeling of dread. Everything just stopped. I knew. Somehow the minute they told us why there were here I knew. And then they looked at me, bowed (they literally got down on their hands and knees!) and said, "It is our honor to serve you, Avatar Koharu."

The town went crazy. A feast seemed to spontaneously appear out of nowhere. People were saying all kinds of crazy things. "Can you imagine, our dear little sweet Koharu? The Avatar?" People who'd never given me so much as a sideways glance were saying things like, "I always knew she was special." Still there were others who, when they thought I couldn't hear, said things like, "There's no way they've got this right. She'll be right back here before too long, once they've figured out who she really is." Oddly, it's the last group I most agree with.

I'm not the Avatar. I'm just some random girl. The Avatar is almost not even human. The Avatar is a being of such power, kings and queens have to bow to them! I can't even negotiate a good deal at the bazaar. There are stories of Avatar's creating hurricanes or reshaping continents. They're so far beyond a normal bender they're not even really the same thing anymore. It's like comparing an insect to a wind buffalo because they both fly. I have a lot of strength I guess, but before they made me start practicing like mad, I wasn't even the best bender in the village. That title would have easily gone to Haruto. He should be the Avatar, not me. He's a tremendous bender, he's great in school, he's always been the bright and shining star of the village. He's kind, warm, and affectionate. He's so amazing a girl like me wouldn't even dare to hope to have dinner at his house.

Spirits! Today all the craziness was supposed to be over! Instead, it's only just beginning. Even this diary is part of it. As an official gift from the village to the Avatar, they gave me this amazing gold leafed, brand new, leather bound journal, complete with several quill pens and bottles of ink (I wonder if they'll make me give it back when they realize this has all been a big mistake).

I know I'm going to have to move and… The world is going to be my responsibility… I guess. I didn't even want to train fire bending and now I have to master the other three elements too! I mean, this can't be real. This is all just a dream. I'm going to wake up in the morning and it'll just be my normal birthday and I'll sit down and talk with my parents. Who knows, maybe the village matchmaker will stop by and I can get an idea of what some of my possibilities might be. But whatever is going on, I'm definitely not the Avatar!


End file.
